Fake version of Obama
Being fake is like driving the wrong way on the freeway: dumb, dangerous, and destructive. This is true in life, relationships, and public policy.
Stop Fake Reform
Last week I signed a letterto the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) calling each out for stopping the acceptance of PAC & lobbyist money for one day — the day President Obama comes to fund-raise for them.
Why this is a problem
Private money perverts politics. It destroys electoral integrity by weighting the outcome in favor of moneyed interests. The DSCC & DCCC are perfectly fine with this. President Obama is not. I’m not either.
Campaigns & elections should be publicly financed. Our taxes pay the salaries of elected officials already, so why don’t we pay for their selection too? That way, things won’t get too out of control (we won’t waste money), and we’ll be more likely to hold people accountable (because we literally paid for them to be there).
Join me, several other prominent Black & progressive bloggers, and 2,400+ other people in signing this letter and stopping this madness.
Remember: nothing changes until something changes.
One Love. One II.
Photo Credit: tideswimmer on Flickr
I agree that campaigns and elections should be publicly financed however thats not necessarily the “American” way. These contributions don’t come out of the balance sheets of the corporations. They come from citizens who give to a specific campaign and disclose where they happen to work. Or a company may sponsor an event and take donations which will then go towards a specific candidate. Being that citizens can give money to whomever they choose, its difficult to make law that a candidate can’t except monies from private citizens. Or is it???
If you can make it a NCAA violation for say a college athlete to take money from a Booster, why couldn’t you make it a violation for a candidate to take money from a citizen? But then it becomes a question of “who pays for the elections?” The simple answer is…”We do…Taxpayers.” But how many of us would gladly raise out taxes in order to see a fair and honest election with no corporate interference?? Hmmm…Now that I think of it…I don’t think I would have a problem with that.
What people have to understand is that the problem with America is America. We can’t have a capitalist society without the rich and poor. The rich control elections. They control policy. They control media. All of these things…control the poor. And since I am not rich it does tend to bother me. However…I do know that in order for there to be a change in the way we run our government, there has to be a change in what type of society we live in. And to do that, we have to start to examine those other “blasphemous” terms other societies use to govern themselves. I can’t say em on here or the FBI will start monitoring my emails(as if they don’t already). Peace…